August Reading Roundup
When I first started this blog (over ten years ago now!), I intended to review every book I read. Even by September 2008, I was already talking about that intention in the past tense, and by now I have to…
50 Years of the Man Booker Prize
To celebrate 50 years of the Man Booker Prize, Shiny New Books is reviewing the winners by decade. Read my review of Last Orders by Graham Swift.
“H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald: Review
H is for Hawk is a beautiful evocation of grief and the way in which the sudden death of a loved on can rip away your sense of control over the world, reminding you that you are powerless in the…
“Tram 83” by Fiston Mwanza Mujila: Review
It isn't every day that you get to read a Congolese novel in English. In fact, the last time it happened, the country was still called Zaire. Tram 83 is an innovative literary novel that also deals with issues like…
“In Praise of Hatred” by Khaled Khalifa: Review
The transition from childhood to adulthood can often be tough. It must be even harder when you're a teenage girl in Syria who feels drawn to radical Islamist ideology but also has forbidden lesbian fantasies about her best friend.
Review of Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones
Did you know that there’s an Albanian tradition in which, if there are no male heirs, a woman can choose to become a man, as long as she swears herself to virginity for life? Neither did I until I read Sworn…
Completism
Can you recommend a good book by an author whose surname begins with Q, U, X or Y? It’s a strange question, I know. The thing is, I’ve been documenting all the books I’ve reviewed on this site since it…
Review: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
The self-fulfilling prophecy is an ancient and fascinating component of literature. From Oedipus to Macbeth and beyond, characters have wrestled with disturbing or tempting prophecies, often with tragic results. As we survey the wreckage of their lives, we wonder to what…
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
I read this book back in the spring, before it got shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and got a fair bit of attention. But, as you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t been blogging very regularly, so I’m only writing about it now.…